Never Letting Up
by SeductiveApple
Summary: It is easy to give up. But when you can hold it together when everyone is expecting you to fall apart, thats when you become a man, thats when you become a legend. Watch as Naruto Namikaze takes his steps into becoming a man. Watch as he Never. Lets. Up.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is a new story I came up with because I'm tired of the stories that has Naruto paired with Asuna. In my opinion, I don't think Naruto should ever be paired with Asuna, mainly because Kirito fought tooth and nail for her, and I'm not gonna be the one to take that away from him. **

**AN # 2: I'd like to thank MistahWompah for helping me with this story, you were definitely a good sounding board I could bounce ideas back and forth from, and for that i'd like to thank you.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own either Naruto or Sword Art Online. They are owned by whoever wrote and drew them I'm just writing this as a hobby.**

_Naruto stared into the dark cave before him. After looking at it for a few seconds he slowly made his way in. It started out the same way it always had. The same ominous breathing coming from deeper in the cave bouncing off walls creating an echo-like effect. The same dull red glow reflecting off the stalagmites blanketing the cave in its eerie presence. All of this Naruto shrugged off, for he was used to it at this point having been through it many times before, and used the dull red glow to navigate his way through the maze of a cave._

_After what seemed like hours of walking he walked into an opening that widened into a cavern where the source of the red glow seems to be coming from. After he took a couple more steps inside he gasped. There at the end of the cavern laying underneath a ledge protruding from the cavern wall in a way that resembled a giant snout from some sort of vulpine creature, laid a giant fox with nine tails curled up around it._

_This was new. Considering all the times he'd been there, this was the first time he had actually seen such a cavern. Let's also not forget the giant fox sleeping at the end. 'So this was the source of the demonic like glow that's been pervading the whole cave system.' Naruto mused. ' It definitely freaks me the fuck out!'_

_Naruto deciding he had enough of staring at an animal that would more than likely devour him than engage him in an exciting debate about ramen and other food assorted items…..mostly ramen though. Took a few steps back and turned around to get out of the cave, that is, until a gravely voice spoke up freezing him in his tracks._

**"SO SOMEONE ACTUALLY MADE IT INTO MY DOMAIN FOR ONCE. THAT…IRRITATES ME. SINCE YOU'RE THE FIRST TO MAKE IT TO MY DOMAIN ALIVE, I'LL BLESS YOUR EARS WITH MY NAME. I AM THE GREAT KURAMA-SAMA, NINE-TAILED FOX, DEMON KING OF HELL, AND…..THE ONE WHO WILL MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE A BLOODSTAIN ON THE FLOOR!**

_After the great Kurama-sama's speech he lunged at Naruto with his claws descending upon Naruto's skull. Naruto looked at the incoming claw in fear, and made to move his body out of the way, but his body was frozen stiff. Taking his eyes off the sharp claw for a second, he stared down at his trembling legs and urged them to move in his mind._

move.

Move.

MOVE!

**MOVE!** Naruto gasped as he woke up in his bed cold sweat covering his whole body as he looked around his semi-messy room. He reached a hand up to touch the part where the claw was supposedly going to penetrate his skull, and rubbed the spot letting out a sigh of relief when he found nothing wrong.

He looked up at his ceiling knowing he wouldn't be going back to sleep at this rate, so he mused over what happened in his dream this time. Naruto for as long as he could remember had been having dreams about that cave, but never had he actually reached the end to see the inside. Why now? There was nothing really special going on in his life at the moment except for the release of Sword Art Online coming out in a few days. Though he doubted his dream had anything to do with that, it was just a videogame. The first of its kind maybe, but a videogame none the less.

Naruto shrugged it off, and went to get ready for school. He dressed in the regular Kawagoe middle school uniform except for the orange hoody he wore underneath the blazer. On the way out of his modest house he grabbed his keys, and phone and left for his school.

On the way past his neighbors house he looked up to the second story window, and made eye contact with a teen around his age with jet black hair, and black eyes. Kirigaya Kazuto. A budding computer prodigy at his school. The guy didn't have much in the way of friends because of his love of computers.

They maintained eye contact for a second more, then Naruto nodded at him, and went on his way to school.

~ Line break ~

After a boring day at School, all Naruto wanted to do was relax, but he had to make it home first. So in a rush he took a path he didn't usually take on the way back from school. He ducked into an system of assorted alleyways, and came upon a group of thugs picking harassing a girl around his age. She had Short brown hair, and pink eyes and stood at around 5'3. On top of that she had a killer figure for her small petite frame. After a couple of seconds of staring at her beauty Naruto shook it off, as he wasn't some pervert, and walked up to the group of thugs.

"Hey beautiful, why don't you come home with me and my friends tonight, eh?" Unnamed thug #1 stated. The girl not wanting anything to do with them, yet still tried to be polite answered in a sweet tone.

" Sorry, I have things to do, and its late." She started to walk away, but Thug #1 didn't like that. So he nodded to Thug #2 to stop her. He did so by gripping onto her wrist, and tossing her into Thug #3's awaiting arms.

" You act like you have a choice in the matter. Come on guys lets take her home" leered #1.

As the girl was about to fight back, a cold voice interrupted the thugs attempt to subdue her.

" Hey idiots. I noticed that the girl over there said she didn't want to go with you guys. Then you had the gall to try and force her to come with you to do kami knows what at your house. Now I don't know about most people, but when I see a group of thugs try to force themselves on a woman it tends to get me incredibly pissed off." The thugs looked up to see who it was that decided to barge in on the middle of their "catch".

Standing in front of them calmly was a teen with spikey sun kissed blonde hair with the tips being red. The teen (at the moment) had cold blue eyes, staring down at them as if they were pieces of trash that he kicked out of his way on a daily basis. On his face were what appeared to be whisker marks on each cheek. The teen stood at an average height of 5'7, so he didn't really strike them as an intimidating figure. He was tossing a rock in his hands up in the air nonchalantly as if waiting for some type of response.

Thug #1, being the first one to shake out of his observations chuckled darkly." Look at what we have here boys, this kid here thinks he can play with the big boys. We might as well show him what it takes to enter the big league." All of the thugs cracked their knuckles and advanced on the(in their minds) poor fool.

Naruto sighed, and decided to just let his actions speak for him.

He took the rock he was tossing in his hands, and pelted it off #2's forehead knocking him unconscious. The rock rebounded off #2's head, and ricocheted into the back of #1's head, causing him to stumble forward into Naruto's knee. After being kneed in the face the thug got punched in the temple by via a haymaker courtesy of Naruto and joined #2 on the pavement in dreamland.

#3 seeing this was enraged, and charged at Naruto like a bull going after the color red. Letting loose a hook that Naruto ducked under. Capitalizing on this Naruto threw a barrage of punches into the final thug's stomach, and ended it with an uppercut directly to the chin knocking him out like a light.

Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, he walked over to were the girl was standing.

" Hey are you okay?"

The girl stared at him for a second, and nodded cheerfully. She stuck out her hand and introduced herself. " Hello, I'm Shinozaki Rika. Nice to meet ya!"

Naruto sweatdropped at the cheerful attitude._ ' Why is this girl so cheerful after an attempted kidnaping!?'_ Naruto just shrugged mentally, and shook her hand.

" Namikaze Naruto at your service."

"Well Namikaze-san. Thank you for helping me out with those guys back there. Would you mind walking me home?" Rika ended in a hopeful voice.

" Sure, but just call me Naruto. I'm not one for formalities."

Rika just smiled happily, grabbing his hand, and dragged him onto the road that would lead to her house. They chatted about their lives, likes, and dislikes on the way to her home. Naruto learned that Rika liked to make things as a hobby, and she hated it when people didn't appreciate her creations. She talked about not really knowing what she wanted to do with her life after high school, but she hoped it involved something she loved doing.

Rika in turn learned that Naruto absolutely loved ramen, but didn't really eat much unless he wanted to reward himself. She also learned that Naruto used to be in the Archery Club, but got bored after awhile. He had a large amount of hate for perverts, but what he really hated were people who picked on defenseless people, and people who judged others without getting to know them. Naruto didn't really know what he wanted to do in the future either, but decided to cross that bridge when he got to it.

Before they knew it they were at Rika's house, and they were standing near the doorway. Naruto glanced at Rika, and said," Well looks like this is it."

Rika also glanced at Naruto, a bit shyly I might add, and quickly kissed him on the cheek and shouted out," Itwasnicetomeetyou!" and ran into the house.

Naruto stood there dazed with his hand on his cheek. He shook his head, chuckled, and headed on home.

~ Line Break~

It had been a few days since Naruto had met Rika, and it was also the release of Sword Art Online. Naruto had been saving up for months for the game, and pre-ordered it awhile ago. He also took the day off of school to go buy it, and had just arrived home recently from the local game store.

He already hooked up his nerve gear, and put in the game, but went downstairs to eat some ramen for lunch. He had a ominous feeling that he wouldn't be able to eat ramen for awhile so he decided to savor it.

After finishing up his ramen, he laid down and slid the nerve gear over his head.

" Link Start!"

Touch: Ok

Smell: Ok

Sight: Ok

Hearing: Ok

Taste: Ok

Language: Japanese

Username: Kaze

Password: ********

Naruto phased into existence in level 1 Town of Beginnings. He clenched his fist a few times to get used to the feeling, then started walking around to look at the sights. As he walked around he noticed the area looked like it came from the midevil era. There were fruit vendors everywhere, and everyone had some sort of bladed weapon on them.

Naruto kept looking around drinking in the sights, when a redheaded man suddenly shouted out wait to a black haired man running by him. Curious, Naruto followed them into alleyway they stopped at, and listened in. After hearing that the black haired man was a beta, he walked up to them.

" You guys mind if I join this little group?" The two looked at each other for a second and shrugged. The redhead, being the more outgoing of the two stepped forward.

" I'm cool with it, by the way the names Klein." The black haired man following his lead also introduced himself

"I'm Kirito." Naruto looked at both of them before replying, " I'm Kaze."

After the introductions were out of the way Kirito led them to a field a little ways from the Town of Beginnings and started to teach them the basics of motion input. Naruto got it down pretty quickly, with Klein following almost as fast.

After friending both of them Klein went to log off for the pizza that would be arriving at 5:30.

"There's no button to log out." Klein stated. Kirito looked at him for a second and then shook his head.

" Look closer….Its at the bottom of the menu."

" No. Its not there." Naruto opened up his menu to check it too.

" Hey Kirito, Kleins right. There is no logout button. Kirito looked at his menu and confirmed the same thing. Klein just shrugged.

" Well it's the first day out of beta, there's bound to be some bugs. I bet the server people are gonna be freaking out." Kirito just smirked.

" They're not the only ones gonna be freaking out, look at the time."

" No! My teriyaki mayo pizza, and ginger ale!" Naruto just chuckled and looked at Klein also smirking.

" Heh. Good thing I ate my ramen before I got on. Now my tummy is all happy and not sad and dejected like yours." Klein just collapsed on the ground into a ball, rocking back in forth with anime tears flowing out from his eyes while mumbling about stupid blonds, ramen, dejected tummys, and his teriyaki mayo pizza.

Kirito just looked at the laughing blonde and sweatdropped at their antics. Deciding to get back to business Kirito told Klein to just call the gamemaster.

Getting off the ground Klein sighed," I tried, but nothings happening. Is there any other way to logout?"

Kirito sensing two pairs of eyes looking at him just shook his head," No. The only way a player can logout is through the menu, or if someone unplugs you from the outside."

"But I live alone. What about you two?" Naruto nodded and said," I also live alone."

" I have a mom and sister. So I think they'll notice by dinnertime." At this Klein ran up to Kirito and grabbed his shoulders and spoke in a pervy voice.

" H-How old's your sister? Kirito backed off a little bit shaking his head," She's on a sports team, and hates games. She has nothing to do with people like us." He then promptly kneed Klein in the nuts.

Naruto shuddered," I cant help but cringe every time I see a man nailed in the balls. Its just not right. Even though there's no pain here, just gah!" Klein got up from his ground rolling and gripped Naruto by the shoulders, and looked at him directly in the eyes while tearing up.

" Finally! Someone who understands the pain of this. From now on, were Ball Brothers!"

Naruto blanched," I don't think I want to-"

Klein interrupted with a"What was that Ball Brother Kaze?" Naruto just groaned while Kirito snickerd in the background.

" I should of just kept my mouth shut." Naruto sighed. At that moment a bell tolled in the distance, and as soon as everyone noticed it they were automatically teleported to main plaza of The Town of Beginnings along with a large group of people.

Kirito looked around," A forced teleport?" The sky suddenly turned a startling blood red, and a blood-like substance leaked out of the sky, and formed into a giant hooded, and faceless gamemaster. It spread out its arms and announced," Welcome players to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment I am the only person who can control this entire world. The logout button's disappearance is not a mistake of this game, its actually I feature I put in this game so you can't logout. You also can't be manually logged out by any outside source. If you are, the transmitter in the NerveGear will send out a powerful microwave, and effectively kill your brain. 213 players have already been attempted to be logged off by external sources, and 213 people have died. As you can see news reporters from all over the world have reported this, including the deaths."

Naruto growled," You asshole. What makes you think you can kill off 213 people like that!"

While Klein just didn't want to believe it, and Kirito just repeated the number in shock.

Kayaba just continued on after everyone settled down a little bit. " I want you all to remember this. If your avatars health drops to zero and dies. The NerveGear will destroy your brain. There is only one means of escape. To clear the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you defeat the boss on each floor and advance all the way to floor 100 and defeat the boss, You will clear the game. Finally, I've added a present to you from me in your storage. Please see for yourself.

Naruto opened up his item storage, and selected the mirror, dropping it into his hand. He looked at his reflection, and saw his usual self but with a mask that covered half his face. A blue glow washed over his body, and revealed his true features. Naruto stood at his 5'7 height without his mask on his face, and had his whisker marks on his cheeks. He looked around for his two friends. He noticed a scruffy red haired guy that had his hair in a bandanna, and on his left was….Kazuto? What happened to Kirito? That's when it all connected in his mind. Kazuto was Kirito, he just put the beginning of his last name together with the end of his first name!

He looked to the redhead first, and shouted out his name. Klein looked at Naruto and just nodded his head as if confirming something, but looked shocked when he gazed at Kirito.

Kirito just stared at Naruto for a couple moments, and then finally blurted out," Naruto? Is that you?"

" Yeah but over here I'd rather be call Kaze if you don't mind." Kirito just replied with," Well as long as you call me Kirito over here too, I'm fine with that."

Klein finally joining in on the conversation got directly into serious mode.

" Sorry to break up your reunion but why'd this happen?"

Kirito pointed out at Kayaba," I dunno, but im sure he'll tell us."

Kayaba just looked at them all. Then started to speak again. " I'm sure your all wondering why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online, and NerveGear do this? I created this place for one sole reason…To create this world and intervene in it…. This ends the tutorial for Sword Art Online official launch…. Good luck players."

Kayaba then dissolved into nothing and the red sky disappeared. That seemed to be the trigger for widespread panic throughout the plaza, and everyone was yelling and freaking out. The expression on Kiritos face hardened, and he gripped Klein and Naruto's hands. He pulled them into a nearby alleyway to discuss his plan.

" Listen to me. I'm heading to the next village right now. Come with me…..If what he said is true, the only way to survive this world is to make yourself as strong as possible. The money and XP we can earn are limited. The hills surrounded by the Town of Beginnings will soon be hunted clean. To do this efficiently we should head to the next village now. I know all the dangerous paths, and areas. Even at level one we can get there safely."

They stood there for at least a minute, and then Klein was the first to answer.

" But you…you know, I spent a whole night in line to buy this with my friends from the other game. There out there in the plaza. I just can't leave them."

Kirito stood there and thought about ways to do it so that a whole group could go, but then Klein cut him off in mid thought.

" I can hardly ask for anything else can I? So don't worry about it, you two go to the next village. I'll be fine. I'll just use the skills you taught me, and help out my other friends. I was a guild leader in my other game so it should work out okay."

Naruto and Kirito just looked at Klein for a second, and started to walk away but were stopped by Klein's voice again.

" Kirito, Kaze." They looked back," Kirito…you actually look pretty cute as you are now, and Kaze… You look the same." Klein deadpanned.

Naruto sweatdropped." Thanks….I guess?"

While Kirito just chuckled, and said," That unkempt face of yours suits you ten times better!" Kirito and Naruto just jogged off, and when Kirito looked back.

Klein was gone.

Kirito and Naruto soon sprinted out of the gates of the town and onto the road to the next village. After a little while Kirito ,and Naruto noticed a feral wolf in the middle of the road.

Kirito roaring out in emotion unsheathed his blade, and charged at the wolf. They met in clash of claws and blade.

**An #3: Well thats it for the first chapter. Please Review so I know what I'm doing wrong :D. I'll try to have the next chapter out sometime next week, but the story is mainly gonna follow canon until the floor 1 boss is defeated, then I'm gonna add my own twist to it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N...Sorry for not updating in awhile, a whole shitload of stuff happened, and then for some reason I kept messing up with putting the chapter in here, it was really quite irritating. Its like ssomeone up there didn't want this chapter out! I did it though, so I feel pretty satisfied with that, so Woo go me.**

**In other news, I went on Omegle recently...I'm pretty sure almost everyone on there is a pervert, thus making me see some freaky things. I recommend not going on this site. Like ever. I'm pretty sure I'm now scarred for life O_O. There were a couple of cool people on there so I can't say it was all bad.**

**Who here is excited for Christmas huh? I kinda am, mainly for the two weeks of school I get off. Vacation is always a good thing in my book. I also need a haircut, but I'm probably not gonna get one, I don't want to be toooo sexy. Just my average amount is fine. Anywhoodle onward to the thing you really want to read!**

Naruto stared out the window of the inn he was staying in. He was somewhat impressed. Everything looked so life like. From the beam of sunlight shining through the window to the wind blowing gently along the grass lifting up stray leaves as it went, it all was pretty much the epitome of warm spring day.

After a while of staring out the window Naruto realized something profound.

He was bored.

Kirito left awhile ago to check out the meeting for the group that was going to face the boss that was on the first floor. He said he would keep him updated once he came back, but its been hours goddammit!

Naruto, deciding as a man that he couldn't take sitting down anymore, he looked for a quest to do in the meantime. He went into his inventory and changed into a long sleeved gray tunic for his journey which was a little loose over his muscled form, along with a pair of tan wool pants that went down to his ankles and a pair of brown assassin attire buckled boots. On his shoulders Naruto had some brown leather spaulders. Sheathed on his shoulder with the handle pointing down towards his chest was a saxe knife with a white handle with a matching one was strapped to his waist on his belt buckle. Each blade was a little over a foot long and the metal was about at the average strength of a regular dagger.

Checking himself out in a mirror, and appreciating the view, he went to dive out the window like a badass. Though at the moment, a badass he was not, as he smacked his head on the window frame causing him to do a painful backflip which sent him crashing onto a fruit stand below, causing fruit raining everywhere.

As he lay there in a pile of fruit he had one thought going through his mind.

"I hope no one saw that."

Sadly as per usual that day, his luck wasn't that great. There, standing a few feet away from him and giggling, was a little girl of about ten years of age. After the giggling died down the little girl approached him.

"Hey mister, are you alright?"

Naruto rose to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Yeah, I was just fighting a rabid …uh pillow monster! And soon after defeating it, it used the last of its strength to toss me out the window."

The little girl just stared at him in awe for a second before she replied.

"So that must mean your super duper strong right?" Naruto nodded with a heroic look on his face as if he just climbed Mount Everest with his teeth because his hands and legs were tied behind his back.

"Would you please get me a couple plants then? My mother is sick, and I need those for the cure!" begged the little girl. Naruto didn't even have to contemplate this. He was bored, and he could never say no when asked for help.

As Naruto was about to answer a quest request popped up in his menu.

**Find the Cure**

**Quest Details: Walk through the Killer Mantis Forest near Tolbana and locate the herbs to save Little Emily's mother.**

**Quest level: 9**

**Experience Awarded: 1500**

**Col Awarded: 3000**

**Accept: Y/N?**

"Now that's a quest! I mean seriously this is just enough experience to get me to level ten, and I get some col in the deal too. Definitely gonna accept this."

**Quest Accepted.**

The little girl ,whose name he now knew as Emily, ran up and hugged him and shouted out with joy.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was scared you were gonna say no and I'd have to go get them myself and die and then my mommy would be sad, and she'd die from heartbreak, and the disease that she's got at the same time, and then the whole town would be sad, because I'm a cute little girl and my mom is the most beautiful women in the whole world, and then everyone would cry because two innocent things would be lost to the world!"

Naruto sweatdropped. " Very imaginative one, isn't she."

"No problem Emily, I'll get those herbs for you in a flash…..or as soon as possible hehe." With that Naruto walked off in the direction of the forest.

**~ Line Break ~**

As soon as he entered this forest, he had gotten an ominous feeling about this place. It wasn't the darkness of the forest or the creepy shadows that came out of nowhere which occasionally freaked him out enough that he had to stifle several high pitched screams. It wasn't even the fact that every so often some bushes would rustle as if something was in there. Which thankfully there wasn't….he checked….a lot. No, it was more along the lines of some errie chattering noise that sounded like a woodpecker on steroids that had recently drank three cups of coffee, then finished it off with an energy drink. It was seriously stressing him out!

But he was Naruto Namikaze! Wooer of the ladies, King of Handsomeness, with the strength of five thousand surgically enhanced super soldiers with the entitlement of Ramen master, and all around general badass. So he forged on stopping every now and then to check the area for the herbs he needed. He already had 3 winterbane stems, 2 spiceroots, and 4 windflower petals. All he needed now was a single taffy leaf.

He walked into a 20 foot clearing, and there at the center was the only taffy tree in the whole forest. He scanned the surroundings cautiously at first, wondering if it really was so easy. Shrugging he walked up to the tree and plucked off a taffy leaf, and put it in his inventory.

That's when things decided to take a turn for the worse. From out of the forest came several, Level 7 Killer Mantises. Naruto looked around at 15 Killer Mantises, sighed, and unsheathed his knives. He held them in a reverse grip, and stared down them down. The Killer Mantises were green mantises slightly larger in size than an average human. These creatures have 4 arachnid legs that they use to support themselves, as well as 2 more scythe-like limbs protruding out of the side of their chests that they use for attacking. One of these limbs is green while the other looks like an actual metal scythe. They have large red eyes that look sideways along with small but sharp triangle teeth, and a blue tongue.

As soon as one of the Mantises moved he attacked.

Turning on his** Drive** ability he charged at them, marking a clear path through them in his mind. As he approached the first one he ducked under an incoming attack and stabbed his knife upwards through the Mantises jaw killing it instantly. He then proceeded to block the bladed arm of another Mantis and countered by using his right hands knife, stabbing the blade through its semi armored chest, sending the creature into pixelated oblivion.

Naruto smirked, and took it up a notch. Activating **Drive** again he marked another path. Sprinting towards a group of five on his left, Naruto quickly skewered through the chest of a nearby Mantis and used the momentum from the stab to jump. He twisted through the air and slammed both knives into the skull of an incoming Mantis. He then rolled with the landing, activated the** Pierce** ability, and propelled his knife at a charging Mantis. The knife soared through the air piercing through the Mantis' eye and impaled the Mantis behind it through the throat.

Facing the remaining Mantis, Naruto dashes forward, weaving through each attack the Mantis threw and ending the little match by stabbing his knife through the shoulder, then slicing it directly across the chest.

He walked over to where his other knife landed, and re-equipped it.

"That's seven. Eight more to go."

**5 minutes later**

The last Mantis had its virtual head removed from its shoulders, and depixelized. Naruto sheathed his blades, and smiled.

"Man that was a lot easier than I thought. Seriously I didn't even get a scratch on me." As soon as he said that a large scythe-like blade sliced through him, and took a quarter of his health away, simultaneously knocking him a couple feet away.

Naruto got to his feet, and looked at his health bar.

"Holy shit! That hit took over a quarter of my health. What the hell was that?"

That's when he saw it. A giant ass, sub boss Killer Mantis that had two health bars. The Mantis was blood red in color with black stripes going down the scythe blades on each arms, leaving a intimidating, enraged looking insect beast. A sub boss in Aincrad was a very difficult type of enemy. While not as strong as regular bosses and far lesser in health, they're a kind of bandit leader type of enemy in terms of skill that shouldn't be reckoned with alone as it usually resulted in death. In some rare cases they are only a little bit more skilled than regular enemies, making them not much of a threat. Occasionally if your lucky a sub boss will drop a rare item. This is called a random drop. Random drops usually consist of items that you wouldn't generally be able to buy in a store, or able to easily earn on a quest. This was a level 11 sub boss, and it was one of the ones that were a lot more skilled than its underlings.

Naruto quickly unsheathed his knives, and held them in his usual reverse grip. Seeing that it was a sub boss, Naruto decided to get serious.

The red mantis charged and swung its scythe blades at a rapid speed that Naruto could barely keep up with. All Naruto was able to do at the moment was block, and even then that slowly drained his health.

"Shit! I need to get some breathing room, and fast! I guess I'll have to use that to get out of this." Naruto blocked a couple more times and then activated** Barrage**, a skill he's only able to use once a day. Time seemed to slow down. Everything was crystal clear, and he saw the incoming attack from a mile away. He dodged and retaliated with a series of attacks. A stab to the back leg, a cut across the chest, a vicious thrust to the throat, a double bladed lunge to the area where a solar plexis is located, and to finish it off he took both knives, stabbed one into the lower jaw, and the other one was shoved ontop of the skull simultaneously.

The **Barrage** ended soon after, and the sub bosses health dropped to its second health bar with only a quarter remaining. Enraged, it lunged out with a rapid double swipe that knocked Naruto's health down close to zero.

Seeing how little health was remaining he quick equipped a health crystal, and crushed it. With his health back up to full, Naruto smirked.

"The tables have turned haven't they…I'm going to enjoy this you bastard." Naruto exclaimed darkly. He activated Drive for the last time, and was in the monster's face in an instant. Crossing his knives he ended the monsters life by lopping of its head.

A Congratulations screen popped up.

**Exp. earned: 6280**

**Col earned: 3700**

**Items earned: 1**

"Cool, I got a bunch of exp. and col. I wonder what item I got though." Naruto checked through his inventory to see what he got. Looking through the weapon section he soon found what he was looking for. He then gasped. Apparently it was a random drop, and a good one at that.

**Arcadian**

**Bow/2 handed**

**Range: Mid to Long**

**Type: Pierce**

**Attack: 50-70, Damage increases as player levels up, and earns more skill points**

**Durability: 2000**

**Weight: 90**

**Requires: Level 10**

**Equip + 25**

**Agility +25**

**Strength +25**

**Running +25**

**Description: The Arcadian is a mid to long range type weapon that comes with an unlimited supply of arrows. It also comes with the option of creating your own arrows, but that ability is only unlocked at level 70. The bow looks like a classic Recurve bow with the arrow rest, and the grip being a light green. The rest of the wood is a darker green that you would associate with leaves, and the bow string is a simple Dyneema string. The bow can also be equipped with more than one item so if an enemy is able to get close, you can pull out your other weapons.**

Naruto equipped the bow, and gave it a few tugs on the string to get used to the feeling of having a bow again as he hadn't used one since he quit Archery Club. Soon he felt well acquainted with it, and headed back into town the long way.

**~ Line Break ~**

It was around night when Naruto made it back, and he went over to Little Emily's house to turn in the quest, and hopefully see the cure in action. He didn't like the thought of someone dying NPC or not.

He walked through town and spotted Kirito with a hooded person, chatting while enjoying their dinner together. Seeing as he wanted to know what happened at the meeting, he walked over to them.

"Yo! Who's the creeper under the hood?" Naruto said lazily.

The person under the hood bristled, but calmed themselves. While Kirito just sighed at his friend's behavior.

"This is our new temporary group member who'll be helping us with the boss tomorrow." Kirito explained.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow then?"

"Us three and a large group of people led by a man named Diabel are going to attack the boss Illfang the Kobold Lord. Our job is to stay back, and take out all the Ruin Kobold Sentinels while the main group takes on the big guy."

Naruto looked thoughtful before he nodded, "Yeah ok, sounds reasonable. Besides, it gives me the chance to try out something new." He turned to the hooded figure and inclined his head towards them.

"You don't talk much do you? Its okay, most are struck speechless when in the presence of the Great Kaze." The mysterious person just snorted in a vain attempt to hide their amusement.

"Oh ho? It seems you do have emotions under that cold exterior of yours." Naruto grinning in victory. The creepy, hooded cold hearted person, at least to Naruto's eyes, apparently didn't share Naruto's opinion and made sure to make it known to him.

"Maybe I just didn't want to talk to idiots?" The now newly revealed female spoke in a somewhat harsh tone. But Naruto rolled with it, happy to finally get some words out of her.

"Heh,well this idiot got you to speak! So I feel that's a win for me. Anyways creepy girl, Kirito, I gotta go finish up this quest before I get too tired." With that, Naruto walked away and disappeared into the alleyways of Tolbana.

As both of them watched as he left, the hooded girl turned towards Kirito.

"Your friend…..He's a strange one isn't he?"

"Yeah, but he's still a good friend none the less."

**~ Line Break ~**

Naruto walked to the outskirts of town near where he last found Emily. He walked past the inn he was staying at and took two lefts, then eventually arrived at where the quest was marked on his map.

In front of him was a cottage of average height with a small wooden fence surrounding it. On the other side of the wooden fence was a well groomed lawn with flowers occasionally popping up in places every once in a while.

The cottage itself was simple in the making. Stone walls, wooden door, the regular plus sign like windows, and to top it off was a brick colored tile roof.

Walking up the cobblestone pathway to the door Naruto began to wonder about the bow he had gotten earlier in the day. When he read the game manual when he first got the game, it mentioned nothing of bows. Not that he was complaining, it's just the principal of it. Then again, it also didn't say he'd get trapped in a psychopath's version of a wet dream either, but lo and behold here he was. So he was just going to take things as come.

Done with his inner monologue he saw that he was at the door, and knocked. The Quest Screen popped up again.

**Quest completed: Find the Cure**

**Turn in: Y/N?**

**Mission turned in.**

**Experience Awarded: 1500**

**Col Awarded: 3000**

The door opened, and a little brunettes head popped out to see who it was. As soon as she saw who it was she flung open the door and Naruto was subjected to a bone crushing hug from a surprisingly strong little girl.

"Brother! Your back!" Little Emily exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

'Oh look it's my littl-WHAT THE FUCK!? HOW IN THE FUCK DID THIS HAPPEN! I HAVE A LITTLE SISTER NOW? What's next, ramen rains from the sky?! Hehe, although I'd like that very much actually and honestly I've always wanted a little sister, but I never thought I'd get one this way.' Naruto shrugged and returned the hug.

"Hey Emily! How's my favorite little sister doing? Any boys I need to beat up?"

"Kazeeeeeee. I'm your ONLY little sister, and I'm ten, you beating up a ten year old would count as child abuse because the only boys I'd like would be my age!" pouted out Emily."

'She's right….Whatever, I'll just prank any boy that looks her way. Mwuahahahaha!' Naruto contemplated maliciously.

"Eh heh, anyways, on to other matters! How's your mother doing now that I got you the cure?"

"Oh she's doing much better. She even got out of bed today, and the doctor said she'd be fine in a week! Wanna stay for dinner? Mom made ramen!"

Naruto froze. Time just seemed to stop, and then a bright beam of light from the heavens shown down upon the cottage. The melody of angels singing was heard and Naruto felt as if his whole soul was being purified. He collapsed onto his knees with tears streaming down his face as he thanked Kami for this opportunity. He was very grateful, blessed, and accepted the very generous offer.

Emily took him on a tour through her house, showing him each room. The first stop was the living room. A couple of red satin cushioned chairs. A fireplace with a painting above it consisting of a grassy hill with the sun dipping over the horizon. The walls were a pale blue, and off to the side of one of the chairs was small table with some candles on it for lighting. The floor was made up of wooden planks, and in the center there was purple rug with a lion's head emblazed on it.

Next up she showed him the two separate bedrooms where she and her mother stayed. Each room had the same basic layout. The beds were in the corners, there was a window that overlooked the countryside, and they had personal effects laying around. The main difference was that her mother's room had several tissues all over the place, and the bed was unmade, as if the person who was in it just left after being there for awhile.

He finally came into the combination kitchen/dining room. The kitchen part had a wood fire stove, several mahogany cupboards that were filled with preserved food, and the pans to cook said food in. In the middle of the room was a rectangular wooden table, with blue table cloth lain over it. Four chairs surrounded the table.

A woman with shoulder length black hair was humming, and stirring the homemade ramen that she had cooking in the pot. She eventually noticed she had guests, and looked up from what she was doing. Naruto made eye contact, and did a quick glance to memorize the features in his mind.

The woman was absolutely stunning. Bright green eyes that reminded him of the forest outside, a slim face, that showed almost now signs of age except for the laugh lines around the skin of her eyes. Her body was as beautiful as her face was. A slim waist, C cup breasts, and a nice looking ass. Naruto denying his inner perverted nature acted as if he didn't notice that first.

All in all when Emily said earlier in the day that the townspeople would be sad if someone of a beauty like her died she would be right. Though that didn't excuse the townspeople for their somewhat shallow nature, he understood why they were as they were.

Emily ran up to her mother and hugged her. Emily then whispered something in her mother's ear, who after nodding in understanding introduced herself.

"I'm Rei, and you young man, have my eternal gratitude for helping me get back on my feet. Emily here just told me how brave and strong her brother was, and that she invited you here for dinner tonight. Though she forgot to mention your name."

"Oh. Um I'm Kaze. Nice to meet ya Rei. When she mentioned that you were serving ramen, I just had to come as ramen is the food of the gods and all. I would just consider it sacrilegious if I turned such an offer down." Naruto said, practically salivating near the end.

Rei just chuckled," Well we wouldn't want to anger the gods and all so you might as well join us then."

Soon the table was set, and Naruto dug in while making small talk with the family. Alas fun time came to an end, and Naruto had to head home.

At the door Naruto hugged his new surrogate sister goodbye, and waved at Rei. Goodbyes being said he left home towards the inn he was staying at.

**~ Line Break ~**

The next day with the pixelated sun rising high over the hilltops Naruto, Kirito, and Mysterious hooded person were walking with a large group towards the First floor Boss room where Illfang the Kobold Lord awaited them. The group of three discussed strategy to take out all the minions as they walked to be rid of the boredom.

As soon as they entered the room Diabel (The leader of the whole group, and secret beta tester) gave out orders to attack.

Kirito and Mysterious hooded person charged in and cut a path through the cannon fodder enemies while Naruto hung back and got ready to reveal his new weapon.

Equipping the Arcadian into his hands he notched an arrow, and let it fly.

The arrow flew through the air and slammed into a Kobold Sentinel's eye pixelating it instantly as it was about cut into a random group members back. Seeing this, everyone stilled in shock.

Kirito was the first one to snap out of it and also the first one to ask the question on everyone's mind.

"Naruto..wha….Where did you get that?" Naruto notching another three arrows and letting them loose in quick succession nailing three more enemies, shouted out a quick answer.

"Now is not the time! Question me later!"

This seemed to get everyone out of their funk, letting out a war cry everyone charged back into battle. It was a long 20 minutes, but eventually they succeeded in pulling out a win against the minions. All that was left was the boss.

As a group they turned, and had a full frontal attack on the beast. Eventually the combined effort of the group shaved down Illfang's health down to one bar. It was then that Diabel yelled to everyone to stay back, he went to charge in.

That's when Kirito noticed something was wrong. Instead of pulling out the Talwar like in the closed beta, he pulled out a Nodachi. Shouting a warning too late, Illfang launched a vicious combo at Diabel knocking his health down to zero, and smacking him away.

Kirirto sprinted up to the downed Diabel, and started speaking with him.

Noticing that Kirito was occupied Naruto decided to distract Illfang by sending a flock of arrows into the midriff of the beast. Illfang letting out a scream of rage dashed at the blonde teen.

Using his newly upgraded agility, Naruto leaped over an incoming slash, landing on a outstretched arm, he jumped higher and flipped upside down behind Illfang. In the air he loaded his bow, and activated **Pierce** forcing the arrow to spear through the bosses neck coming out onto the other side, then slamming forcefully into the ground.

Illfang just roared as a sizeable chunk of his health disappeared from his health bar, leaving him at 3/4th of a full health bar. Turning around at speeds that he previously didn't have, Naruto was slashed aggressively across the chest with enough force to slam him into a wall, cratering it.

Rushing at Naruto again to finish him off Illfang raised his Nodachi, and swung downwards, only to be blocked by Mysterious hooded person.

Illfang getting even angrier sped up again, and launched a combo of attacks that she only barely managed to avoid that also had the result of tearing off her cloak.

When her cloak was torn off it revealed her beauty to the world. She has long orange-brownish chesnut hair and hazel eyes. For attire she wears a dark red leather tunic with a lightweight copper breastplate and leather pants with boots up to the knees. Her main weapon of choice is a rapier.

Kirito had finally finished with his talk with Diabel, and let out a roar of rage. Flying into a rapid combo of attacks he managed to whittle down the bosses health down to halfway before he was knocked back near the wall Naruto was leaning against in support.

"Hey Kirito, I know that this wall is cool and all, but its mine, seeing as I marked it with my body it holds a special place in my heart now. Would you mind getting your own?" Naruto stated.

"Well it's just such a nice wall, and I just needed to check it out, you know."

"Well since you put it that way….no. Tell you what, after we beat this boss I'll help you select your own wall. Nothing feels better than knowing you have a wall at home to come to." Deadpanned Naruto.

Nodding in agreement Kirito looked over to where Asuna was standing. He motioned his head to the boss, and she looked at them, then back to the boss, and shrugged.

Taking that as his cue Kirito dashed towards the boss with Naruto and Asuna following close behind. All of them unleashed their special attacks. Naruto going first activated his** Barrage**. With timing slowing down, and his enemies movements looking like he was trying to push through a murky swamp. Naruto took out his knives. He started to attack aggressively. A knife to the jugular, a double slash to the thighs, a lunge to the pectorals, a blade to the heart, and finishing stab to both eyeballs, before leaping away.

Asuna did some rapid stab with her rapier, and Kirito moved in for the ultimate finishing blow.

Illfang stumbled away in a drunken manner, and with one last heave of his breath, he collapsed to the ground, and pixelated.

Stunned silence. Then slowly a eruption of cheering exploded out of the remaining survivors. The assorted men and women ran out to each other, and hugged each other in a way that only survivors that lived through an experience could. The atmosphere was positively lively.

That is until…it was ruined by Kibaou, and his group of lackeys pointed out something. That Diabel had died, and that it was all Kirito's fault because he withheld information about Illfang's attack patterns. Saying his fault because since he was a Beta tester he wanted the prize all to himself.

This caused everyone to start throwing accusations at each other that the other was a Beta tester.

This didn't sit right with Kirito, especially after Diabel told him that he didn't want Beta testers to be seen in a bad light. So he went and did something about it.

He laughed. He laughed as maniacally as he could. Even though it pained him to do so, he laughed. Once feeling everyone's attention on him he petered out his laughter.

"You fools. I am better than those newbies you call Beta testers. They don't even know how to level up properly. In fact I'm so much better than them that I actually got to higher level floors, and faced Katana patterns before."

The whole group was looking at him in outrage. One of the people in the crowd shouted out that he was a Beater. A combination of a Beta tester, and a cheater. Kirito smirked.

"Thanks. Don't confuse me with those other nobodies that call themselves beta testers. As I said I'm better than those plebeians."

Kirito then equipped his new Coat of Midnight dramatically, and started to leave towards the exit.

Naruto and Asuna chased after him.

Reaching him before he got to the door Naruto spoke

"I noticed what you did back there. I just wanna let you know, that despite what others think of you I'll always be your friend. So if your ever in need of any help, you'll know who to call."

"Your not coming with me?"

"I would, but I have some things I want to do first, also if I did that whole speech you did over there would be pointless."

Seeing Asuna wanted to say something also Naruto decided to leave so they'd have their private moment.

"I'll see you when I see you. Later." Naruto walked a small distance away to the exit, Watching the group party interface screen dissolve as he walked through the gate.

**Drive: Its like a quick dose of Adrenaline to the body, speeding you up to double your normal speed, and temporarily doubles your base strength. It has the added ability of highlighting a route through your enemies, opening up the path of least resistance **

**Pierce: Sharpens whatever is thrown to the point where its able to penetrate through anything, depending on the strength of the user (Only able to use on thrown objects)**

**Barrage: An speeds up the Users senses to the point where time seems to slow down, lights seem brighter, whispers are loud, gross smells are repulsive, touches are irritating, and taste explosive. It also super charges the muscles much higher than what Drive does. It can only be activated once per day because of how strong it is.**

**Annnnnnnnnnnd its over... the chapter atleast. I had large amounts of frustration with this...so review O_O. Pretty much tell me how you liked it, and where I need to improve. Any helpful advice is accepted.**


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